Wedding photographer for the adventurous and fun based in Colorado traveling the West Coast.

Wedding Update + Tips | #andyandbrookegethitched

Today I'm sharing a wedding update and tips for wedding planning because let's be honest it is tough. Being in the wedding industry is a blessing can a curse for planning your own wedding. The plus side is I already had certain things I wanted planned out. The down side is I have been to so many weddings and it has led to so many ideas...too many ideas! One of the hardest things for me is sticking to what we really want. There are so many opinions and questions coming from everyone that it is hard to keep your ideas front and center and not hurt anyones feelings. I can't be the only one right??

We are definitely making moves on the planning front and I'm trying to get as much as I can get done as early as possible because I have a crazy busy fall! So I'm sharing some little tips that have helped me while planning our wedding :)

I have opted for fake flowers. *gasp* I know people everywhere are freaking out and it's okay. Flowers were not high on my priority list and I've been looking at ways to cut that cost down. I knew I didn't want a florist because that was not in our budget and my other plan was to get flowers from a wholesale market and DIY them, but that was still stressing me out thinking about it. So I went online and found Afloral and was blown away! I pulled the trigger on these gorgeous already made bouquets and I'm so happy to say I have all of the flowers for our wedding: bouquets, boutonnieres, and reception decor and they are beautiful! Such a relief. So if you are looking at flower alternatives check out Afloral!

Guests list...I've shared my struggle about guest list with some of my brides and it might be the hardest thing to decide. While we are still working on that part I found an awesome site called Postable. It is an online address book where you can send people the link and they can enter their info and boom you are ready to start sending invites! You can also select cards/invites/etc. and based on your address book they will print and address the envelopes and send them out for you. How amazing!! I can't wait to use this for save the dates and invite!

We knew we wanted to get married at through the church in Sedona so it was only a matter of finding a reception venue. And let me just tell you it was off to a rocky start. I had a budget in mind and did not want to go over it. So I had to get creative and for anyone else out there struggling to find a venue this is for you.

Try to think of unconventional places like parks or event centers without searching the word 'wedding'. A lot of the times when the word wedding is attached the prices can be pretty high.

Research newer venues because if they are just starting out they may be offering a special pricing.

Depending on how many guests you have look into renting a house or VRBO

The best advice I can give is start early! There are lots of little things that I have already bought and done to get them out of the way before things get really busy. If you've enjoyed my update be sure to follow the #andyandbrookegethitched on Instagram to see the latest :)